The Story of Malta the Aerial Siege of the Island, 1940-1942 PREFACE
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The Story of Malta The aerial siege of the island, 1940-1942 PREFACE uch of the original artwork produced specially for this volume was created with data from period photographs and drawings. All design and layout was accomplished with Adobe InDesign CS4; the artwork using Photoshop MCS2. The Maltese aerial campaign has always been a fascinating incident, especially because of the legendary aerial combats between the Allies and the Germans that unfortunately has been dimmed by other luminescent aerial engagements of the war. The research for this manuscript was done using a large collection of scholarly works, dating from recent studies to an official history published in 1944. Confronted by a depth of information, it became important to explain the story with brevity. Clarity and succinctness consequently superseded lengthy detail. Time constraints prevented me from pay enough attention to some of the finer details. I am especially displeased with the maps but with other projects pressing for attention, I must move on. Nevertheless, if you should have a comment, an addendum or comments, kindly don’t hesitate to contact me. There is an e-mail link on the last very page. It is my hope that you will find this manuscript as interesting and pleasurable as it was for me to write and illustrate it. Akhil Kadidal 2010 This page intentionally left blank The Story of Malta Akhil Kadidal British Imperial island during the Second World A War, Malta occupied a place in the narrows of the Mediterranean and was thus in an ideal position to interdict Axis shipping. It was a rocky aircraft carrier from which the British could launch attacks on Sicily, and its deep natural harbor gave the Royal Royal Navy an excellent base. In short, Malta was a thorn in the enemy’s side. The Italian leader, Benito Mussolini was determined to take it for his own, and in June 1940, he had the men and the machines to do it. But Mussolini (and later the Germans) had badly underestimated the fighting spirit of islanders and the GRAND HARBOR The deep water harbor at Valletta, Malta’s British. capital, gave the Royal Navy a perfect operating base. THE PLAYING FIELD Malta, in the center of the Mediterranean is surrounded by enemy territory. It was a pivotal link on the Allied line of communications from Great Britain to the Middle East. All artwork created specially for this document by the author. Design, layout and typesetting by author. 1 alta first came under attack by Axis bombers on M11 June 1940 – just one day after Italy declared war on Britain — and just one day after the Battle of Britain officially began in faraway England. The island was just 90 kilometers (55 miles) from Italian-held Sicily and was an easy target for the Regia Aeronautica (the Italian Air Force) which had 475 fighters, 674 bombers, 233 scout and observation planes, 129 naval reconnaissance aircraft, 42 shipboard fighters and 200 other miscellaneous types. Augmenting this frontline force were hundreds of second-line aircraft capable of being pressed into service if necessary. The British on the other hand had almost no combat-worthy aircraft on Malta. When war had broken out in September 1939, the island had just 42 anti- aircraft guns, and not a single aircraft. The local airfields were in a state of disrepair. Fortunately for the defenders, Air Commodore Forster “Sammy” Maynard of the Royal Air Force (RAF) had become the Air Officer Commanding of Malta in January 1940. Maynard soon went to work, building up Malta’s aerial defenses. His first action was the creation of a temporary fighter flight in March, based at the Hal Far airfield under Wing Commander G. R. O’Sullivan. Unfortunately, this fighter flight was merely a unit on paper. Apart from several mediocre examples of Fairy Swordfish biplanes and a single radio-controlled DeHavilland Queen Bee, it had virtually no combat-worthy machines. Further probing revealed the existence of six un-assembled Royal Navy Gloster Gladiator fighters in crates at the Kalafrana stores. Over the protests of the navy, air mechanics went to work, hastily assembling the aircraft, while Maynard began to recruit pilots. His own aide, Flight Lt. George Burgess was the first to volunteer. Others soon followed — the most senior being, Squadron Leader Alan C. “Jock” Martin, Flying Officer William “Timber” Woods, and Flight Lt. Peter Keeble from the Hal Far airfield staff. By Italy’s declaration of war on June 10, the reported strength of the flight was a mere six Gladiators, with two aircraft held in reserve and used for spares. The remaining four – later affectionately nicknamed “Faith,” “Hope,” “Charity” and “Desperation” by the Maltese, were flown by seven pilots in relays and would take on the Italians for the next three weeks. A day after their declaration of war, the Italians began their first attack. 2 1940 Seven air-raids alone struck Malta that day, with 25 tons of bombs falling on Hal Far airfield, the Burmola armament depot, the seaplane base at Kalafrana. To everyone’s dismay, the Gladiators failed to score, but were more fortunate eleven days later on the 22nd, when George Burgess, his attack watched by a stirred Maltese population below, intercepted an Italian bomber formation. Burgess, his twin 0.303 machine-guns blazing, riddled a tri-motor Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bomber flown by First Lt Francesco Solimene. Transformed into a blazing comet, the Savoia fell into the sea off Kalafrana Bay. It was an encouraging first victory. Days later, the Gladiators were still fighting. “Desperation” and another reserve Gladiator had been lost in crashes, but none of the RAF pilots had been killed and morale was high. Then in July 1940, twelve Hawker Hurricanes flown off from the carrierHMS Argus, landed in Malta. The Hurricane, a modern if outclassed fighter, had arrived at a prodigious time, just as the Italian attacks were growing in intensity. By December, the enemy raiders, numbering 70 to 80 aircraft, were gallantly opposed by a handful of Gladiators and Hurricanes. By the end of the THE PIONEERS Flight Lt. year, three of the British pilots had become aces and their George Burgess (left) with Air exploits had turned into legend. Photos of the pilots soon Commodore “Sammy” Maynard. began to crop up in every shop and office in Valletta, next to (National Archives of Malta) portraits of the king and holier crowd. The Gladiator was the last of the RAF’s biplanes and served admirably in the Mediterranean until its withdrawal in 1941. The aircraft portrayed here is “Charity,” one of Malta’s defenders. The maneuverable aircraft, capable of 257 mph, was armed with four .303 Gloster Gladiator Mk I THE machine guns and proved a match for its Italian counterpart below. EARLY OPPONENTS When Italy declared war in June 1940, it had only 150 C.200s in service. Even then, the type served extensively in the Mediterranean. Capable of 312 mph, the aircraft was well liked by its pilots, but its inadequate armament of only two 12.7mm Macchi C.200 ‘Saetta’ machine guns was a let down. 3 THE SUPREMOS Hitler with the Italian leader, Benito Mussolino (right). Hitler had initially not planned for any German involvement in the Mediterranean. His hand would be forced by the Italian setbacks in 1941. He would later dispatch an elite aerial formation, Fliegerkorps X to batter Malta. (IWM) PREFLIGHT Oberfeldwebel Ernst Laube of the elite 7./JG26 sits in his Me109E at Gela airfield, Sicily. Laube would claim only one kill over Malta. (Jagdwaffe: J.R. Smith) 4 1940 UPPING THE ANTE As the aerial action intensified, the RAF equipped its squadrons with a miscellany of aircraft. Italy’s entry into the war had stressed Malta’s importance in the Mediterranean to the Air Ministry in London, and Britian- based squadrons were hurriedly dispatched to the theatre. One of the first to arrive were Wellington heavy bombers from No. 148 Squadron, a squadron (No. 830) of Royal Navy Swordfish biplanes that flew in from Southern France, and several four-engined Short Sunderland flying-boats from Egypt. The latter were based at Kalafrana Bay, an important floatplane and refueling base. These reinforcements, as small as they were, nevertheless turned Malta into an important staging area when the Italians invaded Greece that October. The Wellingtons were soon carrying out attacks against Italian bases in Albania and northern Greece while the Sunderlands laid mines deep in enemy waters. But operations on the island were not limited THE PHOTOGRAPHIC to faraway objectives. In the first weeks of June, EVIDENCE Warburton’s pictures the Sunderlands sank two Italian submarines of a packed Taranto harbor. in nearby waters, while the Fairy Swordfish (National Archives of Malta) torpedo biplanes shadowed Italian transport ships destined for Tripoli and Benghazi in North Africa. At the same time, meantime, further measures to increase Malta’s air power were underway. 5 THE AFTERMATH After-action reconnaissance photos taken on the following day shows the damage caused by the raiders. (IWM) 6 1940-1941 On 17 August, Argus again flew off twelve Hurricanes for Malta, but they had been launched too far offshore, and only four arrived. These were joined in September by three Martin Maryland light bombers that made a perilous journey from England. The Marylands formed the nucleus of a new unit, No. 431 Flight, which soon began flying long-range reconnaissance. On 10 November 1940, a Maryland flown by Flying Officer Adrian Warburton, under orders to photograph the Italian fleet at the great naval base at Taranto in southern Italy, returned with pictures showing the dispositions of five Italian battleships, 14 cruisers and 24 destroyers.